Before and After: Denver Kitchen

The Deets

This client's journey with AOK began with the vision to simplify their pantry. They had a classic case of “Covid Pantry.” You know, the kind where things were collected, piled, never really sorted. They called us in to make sense of everything, and once that project was complete, they felt inspired and wanted to do the kitchen next! The kitchen (in our opinion) is the driving force of a home. The client and her family do a lot of cooking and baking, so this project felt essential and exciting.

What Went Down

As with all AOK organizing projects, we began with a walkthrough. Cabinet by cabinet, drawer by drawer, we talked about, what was working, what was not working, what could be more efficient, what needed to go, what needed to stay. All that intel in mind, we formulated a plan and launched it!

Key Client Desires:

Pack up china in cabinet to store in basement
Create a designated junk drawer
Create a designated flower tools area in a cabinet
Shift some vases for easy access / get rid of extras
Clear up everyday dish cabinet to make it less cramped
Better organize the utensil drawer (big regret, we forgot to take a photo of the drawer. So sry.)

A four-image grid displaying the befores of each of the sections in the kitchen.

We broke up the kitchen into four sections:

A — The eight drawers on the far left side of the island. Every drawer, except maybe one acted as a catch-all, the other was a towel drawer.

B —The cabinets on the far left, upper and lower. Less-used dishes—holiday serving items and china—lived up top, while catch-all cabinets full of flower tools, cat items, and random decor filled the lower ones.

C — Everyday kitchen items—oils and spices, mixing bowls, cooking utensils, flatware, coffee cups, glasses, dishes, pots and pans.

D —The cabinets that sit alone. The double glass doors were filled with loose leaf tea, vases, ice cream bowls, and candle tapers. On either side, there were kitchen appliances, water bottles, and overflow cookbooks. Below, we had another catch-all drawer and the beloved food container drawers. A great example of having a great space to work with, we just needed to maximize efficiency.

E — Arts and crafts. Everything was shoved in drawers and cabinets with no flow or easy access.

Sections A / B went a lot faster than planned.
The majority of what was in the drawers and the lower cabinets was actually just trash (old take out menus, pens without ink, magnets, cords without a cause, empty boxes, etc). We created designated areas for like items, then brought the client in to sort through each area. With the client, we then made a giveaway pile, trash pile, and keep pile. This is helpful for us because then we know exactly what we’re working with, and helpful for the client because they don’t get overwhelmed, but are still a part of the process.

Before of messy kitchen drawer full of miscellaneous items

Before of messy kitchen cabinet full of loose baking supplies

Before of messy kitchen cabinet full of water bottles, lunch bags, funnels, etc.

After of kitchen drawer with pens and other utility items in separate sections

After of kitchen drawer with tape in neat rows

After of kitchen drawer with various cords neatly wrapped and in separate sections

After of kitchen cabinet with tidy stacks of paper plates, etc.

After of kitchen cabinet organized in bins and clearly labeled

After cabinet with neat rows of decorative vases

Section C was about shifting items around.
There wasn’t a lot to get rid of, but we knew things could be more efficient. Take the cooking oils for example, they were crammed on a bottom shelf with stacks of mismatched bowls. Reaching for one could make the whole stack crumble. Or the spices, though they were in two designated pull-out shelves by the stove, they weren’t with like items, making it tricky to find what you needed quickly. To solve these issues, we added three lazy susan’s to the bottom shelf and grouped regular cooking oils, vinegars, and more specialty things with like items. Then we shifted the rest of the shelves so items would actually stack. We placed everyday items closer to the bottom, and things like a cake stand that the client only uses on special occasions lived happily on the top shelves. For the spice cabinets, we made one for baking and one for cooking. For the everyday dish cabinet, we got rid of enough things that it just lightened the feel. You could easily see everything in each cabinet, and that was the goal.

Drawer with neatly organized baking supplies

Tidy dish cabinet with lazy susans full of oils, vinegars, and specialty items on the lowest shelf

Section D felt so cute to do.
Because we shifted so much in section C, for this part we were now on a giant *buttered* roll. We moved the ceramic vases to the cabinet that previously housed the china, got some baskets for the tea, and arranged the glass vases, ice cream vessels, and candle sticks into a more decorative, but still functional, formation. We gave all the appliances the same home in the cabinet to the right, which gave water bottles, lids, napkins, and overflow cookbooks more room to breathe. Every tupperware, pyrex, food storage container, we pulled out and made sure each lid had a container to match. After checking the dishwasher and fridge to confirm we were missing anyone, we tossed the rest and organized our way forward. We created one designated “junk drawer”, and in it, gave all the straws, birthday candles, and lighters a home so it started out with some good functionality in addition to being a landing place for other miscellaneous items.

Before of cabinet overflowing with water bottles, cookbooks, and misc. items

Before of open-face cabinets crammed with candlestick holders and vases

Before cabinet full of kitchen appliances

After cabinet with nice rows of cookbooks, water bottles, and plenty of empty space

After open-face cabinet with glassware tidily displayed

After cabinet with kitchen appliances in good order

Drawer of stacked food storage containers and a small section for lids

Designated junk drawer with lighters, birthday candles, and straws in separate sections

Section E was the hardest.
Likely because there were so many different types of supplies and four catch-all drawers that had been collecting loose items for seven+ years, it was a lot to puzzle. But the end result paid off. It was cool to get to know the client's kid a bit through this, this section housed materials for their super cool hobbies.

Before drawer full of books and craft supplies

After drawer with neat rows of art supplies sorted by type

After, largely empty drawer with paints and other art supplies in separate sections

After, beading supplies in neat sections

After, drawer with two neat stacks of craft paper

After, drawer with three self contained stacks of sketchbooks and art books

The Stats

Who—This project was completed by Audrey (founder and head organizer, goofy girl, etc).
Tunes — A playlist by the coolest girl in school
How long? Total project length was 34.75 hours organizing. 24.75 actively organizing + 10 hours planning, buying, returning, donating

In The End

This was a really cool project for us. On the last day, we felt proud and excited for the client to unload their dishwasher, bake a loaf of bread, or think of a needed item while cooking and know exactly where to go.

Before and After: Denver Kitchen

The Deets

What Went Down

The Stats

In The End

Before and After: Realm

Before and After: Denver Pantry